Foretich Traces Daughter To New Zealand

Reunion, End To Long Search May Be Close

February 24, 1990|By MATHEW PAUST Staff Writer

Eric Foretich is bound for New Zealand today to see his 7- year-old daughter Hilary, whose disappearance three years ago sparked a child custody dispute that made headlines and broadcasts around the world.

Foretich said Friday he tracked Hilary and her grandparents to a motel in Christchurch and had them detained by authorities, perhaps ending a mystery in the longest, most expensive child custody battle in U.S. history.

"This is a joyous occasion for me, although I don't sound like it, because I'm exhausted," he said. "To know my daughter is alive and in good health is a wonderful feeling."

The McLean oral surgeon, who grew up in Newport News, has been embroiled in the bitter struggle since 1983, when his ex-wife, plastic surgeon Elizabeth Morgan, accused him of sexually abusing Hilary - a charge Foretich emphatically denies.

Morgan spent more than two years in jail for contempt of court for refusing to bring the child to court officials so that Foretich could see the girl.

Morgan, who could not be reached for comment Friday, was released Sept. 25 after President Bush signed a special act of Congress on her behalf, and after her legal battle with her ex-husband had been splashed on the cover of People magazine and was covered in newspapers and television broadcasts in several countries.

During her time in jail, Morgan became a hero to many feminist and anti-child-abuse groups, while Foretich's plight drew less-publicized support from advocates of parental rights for divorced fathers.

Foretich, 47, who has maintained since his daughter's disappearance that she had been abducted by Morgan's parents, said Friday he had his ex-wife's parents arrested in New Zealand after pinpointing their location on Thursday.

"They've had to surrender their passports and they're not allowed to leave beyond 20 kilometers of Christchurch," he said in a phone interview.

Hilary is still with her maternal grandparents in accordance with a court order following a hearing on Friday, said a spokesman for the Christchurch Police Department. He said another hearing in the case is scheduled for next week, and declined to comment further on the grandparents' legal status.

Morgan's attorney, Steven H. Sachs, told the Washington Post that the New Zealand judge who ordered Morgan's parents not to leave his jurisdiction also ordered Foretich to stay away from Hilary and the Morgans.

"Elizabeth is going to do whatever she possibly can to protect her daughter," said Sachs. "Elizabeth is confident that the courts of New Zealand will protect Hilary."

Foretich said Friday that he was preparing to leave today for New Zealand with his parents, Vincent and Doris Foretich of Gloucester County.

He said his ex-wife was not in New Zealand.

Sachs told the Post that Elizabeth Morgan intends to go to New Zealand as soon as the judge who jailed her agrees to return her passport, which he confiscated in 1987.

Without money to hire detectives to find his daughter, Eric Foretich said he did much of the digging himself, taking time off from his medical practice.

While in England last week, he said, he discovered Hilary and Morgan's parents were in New Zealand. "I found out yesterday what the address was," he said Friday.

The Times of London newspaper reported Tuesday that the deputy headmistress at Beechfield College, a private girls' school at Plymouth in southwest England, recognized Hilary as a former pupil after the girl's picture was shown on the British Broadcasting Corp. TV talk show "Kilroy" late last year. Hilary left the school in 1988.

The paper reported that lawyers for Foretich obtained a court order Feb. 16 instructing the producer of the TV show to reveal all she knew of Hilary's whereabouts.

Foretich said Friday he has hired a New Zealand lawyer in an attempt to win custody.

Meanwhile, a private detective has been watching the girl and Morgan's parents "for the past 35 hours," Foretich said.

According to the Associated Press Friday, a reporter for Radio New Zealand reported that police in Christchurch said that Hilary and the Morgans had been there for three years.

The radio reporter, Jill Gallop, said the Morgans sought permission last year to become permanent New Zealand residents.

Gallop reported that Hilary's identity became known after New Zealand authorities checked with U.S. officials to determine if there were any outstanding court orders pertaining to the child.

Foretich estimates his legal costs in the case have reached $500,000. "It will be such a relief when this is finally over with, and my daughter is back home and safe again," he said.

He said he was prepared to stay in New Zealand as long as necessary to win custody. "I'm putting my practice on hold. I'm not coming home until I can bring Hilary with me," he said.